RPO and RTO in Disaster Recovery: What Every Business Needs to Know

Data is one of the most valuable assets for modern businesses. Yet, a shocking number of companies underestimate the risks of data loss: studies show that 60% of businesses close within a year of a major data failure. Whether caused by human error, cyberattacks, or natural disasters, losing critical data can have catastrophic financial and reputational consequences.

This is where Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) come into play. These two metrics are the backbone of any effective disaster recovery strategy and data backup plan.

What is RPO?

Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. In simpler terms, it answers the question:

“If a disaster happens, how much data can we afford to lose?”

Your RPO determines how often you should back up your data:

▪️Hourly backups – for transactional data, e-commerce payments, or financial systems.

▪️Daily backups – for moderately important business documents.

▪️Weekly or monthly backups – for rarely changed data like archived HR records or historical logs.

For example, if your e-commerce platform has an RPO of 1 hour, losing more than an hour of transactions could impact revenue or customer trust.

What is RTO?

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the maximum acceptable downtime after a disruption. It answers the question:

“How long can our business survive without this data or system before the damage becomes unacceptable?”

RTO varies depending on the system or application:

▪️E-commerce website – RTO might be 15–30 minutes during peak hours.

▪️Email servers – RTO could be 2–4 hours, depending on internal communication needs.

▪️Internal HR systems – RTO may be 1–2 days, if not immediately critical.

Why RPO and RTO Matter Together

While RPO focuses on data freshness, RTO focuses on downtime. Both metrics are independent but complementary: a strong disaster recovery strategy ensures minimal data loss and rapid restoration.

Short RPOs and RTOs are ideal, but they come at a cost. Faster backups and near-instant recovery require more storage, processing power, and robust infrastructure. Your goal should be to balance risk, business priorities, and budget.

Types of Disasters to Consider

When planning for disaster recovery, it’s essential to evaluate potential threats and define RPO and RTO per scenario:

Note: These are examples. Each business must define its own recovery objectives based on operational impact and risk tolerance.

How to Determine the Right RPO and RTO

1. Identify Critical Assets

▪️Applications, software, and data stores.
▪️Prioritise based on business impact.

2. Classify Data by Importance

▪️Critical: transactional data, customer information.
▪️Moderate: HR or accounting data.
▪️Non-critical: archived documents or logs.

3. Analyse Business Operations

▪️Determine how long downtime is acceptable for each system.
▪️Consider time of day: some systems may tolerate downtime during off-hours.

4. Choose Backup StrategiesReal-time backups for critical systems.

▪️Incremental or daily backups for less critical data.
▪️Use data centres or cloud storage for redundancy.

5. Document and Test Your Recovery Process

▪️Create a disaster recovery plan with clear RPO and RTO for every asset.
▪️Conduct regular tests to ensure the plan works in practice.

Real-World Example

▪️RPO: Every 4 hours → accepts potential loss of up to 4 hours of work.

▪️RTO: 2 days → ensures employees can resume work within 48 hours.

▪️RPO: 15 minutes → nearly no data loss.

▪️RTO: 30 minutes → minimal disruption to revenue and customer experience.

Backup Options for Businesses

At ITbuilder, we offer a range of data backup solutions:

▪️Veeam – reliable backup and recovery for virtual, physical, and cloud environments.
▪️N-Able (SolarWinds) – monitoring and automated backup for real-time protection.

We also assist in building a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy, tailored to your business needs.

Best Practices for Disaster Recovery

Simple steps to take today

RPO and RTO aren’t just technical benchmarks - they are critical business decisions. Getting them right means minimising data loss, reducing downtime, and ensuring your operations continue smoothly even in the face of unexpected disruptions.

Don’t wait for a disaster to expose weaknesses in your systems.

Take control today -  Schedule a Free Disaster Recovery Consultation to assess your RPO and RTO, create a tailored recovery process, and implement a robust disaster recovery strategy that safeguards your business, data, and reputation.